Monday, September 04, 2023
Another Welsh Tory u-turn
The most shambolic party in Wales at the moment has to be the Welsh Conservatives, and that is quite something given the state of the others.
The cause of the Tories' dissarray has to be put at the feet of their Senedd leader, Andrew R.T. Davies, who seems determined to be a disruptor rather than an alternative government, and whose attempts to mirror his UK counterparts has left some of his colleagues exposed and backtracking on their previous positions.
Wales on line helpfully points out that the Welsh Tories had supported (and voted for) the Welsh Government’s 20mph speed limit before becoming vehemently opposed, but the latest u-turn is far more blatant and relates to a recycling scheme:
In 2021 plans were announced to introduce a deposit return scheme (DRS). In simple terms this would see people pay a small deposit when buying a drink in a single-use container, which they would then get back when they return the bottle or can.
At the time the Welsh Government was working with the UK Government on a joint scheme that would mean you could buy a drink in Barry and return it in Bristol or Belfast. The point was to recycle as many of the estimated 14bn plastic drinks bottles and 9bn drinks cans and 5bn glass bottles – many of which end up in landfill – used in the UK annually.
However the scheme has caused a row between the UK Government and the devolved nations over the seemingly innocuous topic of glass. The Welsh Government has included glass within the scheme, which will come in in 2025, but the UK Government has said it doesn’t want to. They wrote to the Welsh Government saying they are not allowed to include glass bottles in their scheme.
Tories have said they are vehemently against this Welsh Government plan to include glass in the recycling scheme, but this wasn’t always their view:
There are several examples of the party being previously in favour of including glass in such a scheme. In July last year Welsh Conservative shadow minister for climate change Janet Finch-Saunders said she was “proud to have brought forward a legislative proposal in the Welsh Parliament for a bill that would make provisions to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme and reduce waste”.
But it wasn’t just the recycling scheme in general she supported – it was the inclusion of glass. Pointing to a recent trial she the “trial in Conwy County was a great success”. She added: “They had a 97% engagement rate. There has been increased interest in whether glass bottles should be included in a DRS. I am pleased to agree with Polytag that glass should be part of the scheme in Wales.”
She even laid out specifically why she supported including glass. “Recycling glass bottles lowers the risk of injury to people and wildlife as well as reducing our environmental impact,” she said. “In fact by including glass in Scotland’s deposit return scheme there will be a reduction in CO2eq emissions of more than 50,000 tonnes each year – or nearly 1.3m tonnes over 25 years.
“Scotland’s deposit return scheme will help tackle the plague of glass bottles littering communities because its inclusion of glass will see the recycling of an additional 53,000 tonnes of containers. It would be fantastic to see such a boost to recycling here in Wales too.”
The Conservative Party’s support actually goes back more than half a decade. In 2018 the party's own website announced: “Shadow Minister applauds ‘game-changing’ deposit return scheme – now time for Labour to catch-up in Wales”. Then-spokesman David Melding raised the impact of glass not being recycled and said that the Tories were “leading the way”.
Even Welsh Tory leader Mr Davies seems to have come late to the idea that including glass is “harebrained”. On visiting a Welsh brewery in November last year Mr Davies said that though there were “concerns” with the scheme “in principle it’s a fantastic idea”.
A Sunday National investigation found that just six weeks after this change of plan the Conservative party accepted a £20,000 donation from an industry lobby group.
Wales on line helpfully points out that the Welsh Tories had supported (and voted for) the Welsh Government’s 20mph speed limit before becoming vehemently opposed, but the latest u-turn is far more blatant and relates to a recycling scheme:
In 2021 plans were announced to introduce a deposit return scheme (DRS). In simple terms this would see people pay a small deposit when buying a drink in a single-use container, which they would then get back when they return the bottle or can.
At the time the Welsh Government was working with the UK Government on a joint scheme that would mean you could buy a drink in Barry and return it in Bristol or Belfast. The point was to recycle as many of the estimated 14bn plastic drinks bottles and 9bn drinks cans and 5bn glass bottles – many of which end up in landfill – used in the UK annually.
However the scheme has caused a row between the UK Government and the devolved nations over the seemingly innocuous topic of glass. The Welsh Government has included glass within the scheme, which will come in in 2025, but the UK Government has said it doesn’t want to. They wrote to the Welsh Government saying they are not allowed to include glass bottles in their scheme.
Tories have said they are vehemently against this Welsh Government plan to include glass in the recycling scheme, but this wasn’t always their view:
There are several examples of the party being previously in favour of including glass in such a scheme. In July last year Welsh Conservative shadow minister for climate change Janet Finch-Saunders said she was “proud to have brought forward a legislative proposal in the Welsh Parliament for a bill that would make provisions to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme and reduce waste”.
But it wasn’t just the recycling scheme in general she supported – it was the inclusion of glass. Pointing to a recent trial she the “trial in Conwy County was a great success”. She added: “They had a 97% engagement rate. There has been increased interest in whether glass bottles should be included in a DRS. I am pleased to agree with Polytag that glass should be part of the scheme in Wales.”
She even laid out specifically why she supported including glass. “Recycling glass bottles lowers the risk of injury to people and wildlife as well as reducing our environmental impact,” she said. “In fact by including glass in Scotland’s deposit return scheme there will be a reduction in CO2eq emissions of more than 50,000 tonnes each year – or nearly 1.3m tonnes over 25 years.
“Scotland’s deposit return scheme will help tackle the plague of glass bottles littering communities because its inclusion of glass will see the recycling of an additional 53,000 tonnes of containers. It would be fantastic to see such a boost to recycling here in Wales too.”
The Conservative Party’s support actually goes back more than half a decade. In 2018 the party's own website announced: “Shadow Minister applauds ‘game-changing’ deposit return scheme – now time for Labour to catch-up in Wales”. Then-spokesman David Melding raised the impact of glass not being recycled and said that the Tories were “leading the way”.
Even Welsh Tory leader Mr Davies seems to have come late to the idea that including glass is “harebrained”. On visiting a Welsh brewery in November last year Mr Davies said that though there were “concerns” with the scheme “in principle it’s a fantastic idea”.
A Sunday National investigation found that just six weeks after this change of plan the Conservative party accepted a £20,000 donation from an industry lobby group.
